Had a renewal request from the AA recently. Price was 30% or more above what a new customer would pay. Phoned them and they backed down instantly. Happened last year too. I think it's rude to treat long-standing customers this way. I've been satisfied with the roadside service so wouldn't otherwise consider changing.

Moral of the story: if you get an AA renewal notice, check the price online and then haggle down to that price. Read more

www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-2717855/Nea...l

Interestingly, the sales boom seems to be fuelled by credit. According to SMMT, up to four in five new-car purchases are now made on credit, with many customers effectively renting a new car - typically for three years - before trading the vehicle in for a new model using a scheme known as a personal contract plan.... Read more

I have a 2007 Honda Jazz 1.4 Sport CVT. Until recently, it was quite lovely. In May, I discovered by chance that the shuddering at low speed acceleration was a fault not a characteristic. Just out of the Honda 7 year warranty, I had to pay £85 to have the CVT oil flushed and refilled. At the time, I also reported that the car seemed to slip out of gear and back in again causing a jump. It was hoped by Honda that the CVT flush would remedy this too. After the recommended 600+ miles, the shudder was gone but the jumping remained. Honda stated that the only other solution was the fitting of a starter plate kit that cost £900. This has not remedied the gear jump problem and the dealership is at a loss to explain it. I am hoping that someone else has come across this.... Read more

Hi, just back from Northern Spain and thought I'd share some of the experience. On some points I'd be interested in any ex-pat views. First the roads are excellent and quiet with even remote mountain roads better than our local a-road UK surface. Speed limits are however a real headache for visitors. Bends on their main roads now have mandatory speed limits of 60 kph. These seem to be ignored by locals but with with the warnings online about total inflexibility by the Police on limits I tried to comply but it became tedious and locals tailgate even at well over the 60 limit. More seriously they also have mandatory and variable (80/60/40 kph) limits in the frequent roadworks we encountered. These limits vary several times in each kilometre and yesterday I had the dubious pleasure of an artic on my tail flashing lights and blaring his horn if I so much as dropped to 50 in the 40 area. Locals again seem to treat these limits as we might the advisory signs we get in UK when chippings are laid but I believe they are mandatory and rigorously enforced in Spain. Finally on the negatives the speed control traffic lights which only change to green if you are below the limit are a mixed bag. Most change to green a few car lengths before you reach the traffic light line but one in the local town only changed as you were about to cross the line so to avoid passing a red light you had to drop to about 10-15 kph. Again locals just go for it at 50 and pass at red, slowing down for red gets you an aggressive flash from following traffic.
Generally however driving was easy with local drivers being patient (speed aside) , the roads were quiet and parking easily available even at popular tourist spots. Some of the advance online info is unduly alarming or misleading for example UK drivers need only carry one warning triangle ( not two as most sites state) and you only need a spare set of specs if your licence specifies it (not compulsory as most sites suggest). Also ,although I didn't risk it myself, locals flashed their lights not to claim right of way but to give way. And joining motorways at slips seems to be exactly as in UK with joining traffic using a mixture of speed matching and "assertive" joining in rather than waiting as if a give way as most sites suggest.
Finally one issue we did hit was getting a slow puncture with the choice of pumping up gunking it or using the darned space saver. Unfortunately it occurred on a Thursday evening before the St James holiday which sees just about everything closed for three days. We were lucky enough to find the one garage open on the Saturday and had a repair for a very reasonable 8 euros. Worth bearing in mind that you might not find the 7 day opening we get in UK and another reason to go for full size spare!
So I hope I have not added to some of the doom and gloom that my pre-trip research unearthed. On the whole it was a stress free trip and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to get back to driving on uncluttered roads with sunshine, food and scenery thrown in! As I said at the outset I'd be interested in any ex-pat comments or tips.
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Hello. The windscreen washer in my Yaris recently packed up. The rear washer is fine as it has its own pump. Is it easy to replace the front washer pump as the pumps themselves are pretty cheap. I don't want to get stung with an expensive garage bill for a relatively minor problem.

Many thanks. Read more